MAM
US ad spend up by a marginal 0.9% in Q2: Kantar Media
MUMBAI: Total advertisement expenditure in the US in the second quarter of 2012 increased 0.9 per cent from a year ago and finished the period at $34.4 billion, according to data released by Kantar Media a provider of strategic advertising and marketing information. Total spending for the first six months of the year grew 1.9 percent to $67.1 billion. The top 10 advertisers included P&G, Comcast, L‘Oreal, Time Warner and News Corp.
Kantar Media US chief research officer Jon Swallen said, “Ad spending growth sputtered during the second quarter and was unable to sustain its early year momentum. The advertising market is mirroring the tepid, slow growth performance of the general economy. Third quarter results will get a short-term boost from the Summer Olympics and political advertising but sustained long-term improvement will probably be linked to the health of consumer spending on the goods and services that marketers provide.”
Television continued to lead the ad market in the second quarter of 2012, with overall growth of 4.4 per cent. Cable TV expenditures rose by 4.2 per cent and growth was driven by sports programming and networks with larger audience ratings. Network TV spending was down 0.4 per cent and comparisons were hurt by a timing shift that moved ad money for NCAA final four games out of April and into the prior quarter.
Spot TV expenditures increased by 4.6 per cent, lifted by a first wave of political money that began pouring into a handful of swing states crucial to the Presidential race. Double digit growth for spot TV spending in these select geographic areas was a marked contrast to the 2-3 percent growth rate for all other spot TV markets. Spanish language TV budgets jumped 17.8 percent on increases from direct response marketers, consumer package goods and auto manufacturers. Spending on syndication TV rose 10.0 percent, reflecting a combination of audience ratings performance and more hours of programming.
There were isolated pockets of growth beyond the television sector. Network radio spending rose 20 per cent but comparisons were inflated by the addition of more radio programming to Kantar Media‘s monitoring. Expenditures in outdoor media rose 2.5 percent, the ninth consecutive quarter of year-over-year increases, and were spurred by healthy gains from local retail and service businesses. Internet display advertising fell 5.4 percent in the second quarter. Spending totals, which do not include either video or mobile ad formats, were impacted by a reduced volume of ad impressions with some offset from higher average CPMs.
Print media continued to lose ground. Ad spending in Sunday magazines declined 7.6 per cent and consumer magazines dropped 2.6 percent due to steep cutbacks from pharmaceutical companies and auto manufacturers. Local newspaper budgets were down 1.9 percent as weaker spending by financial services, travel and telecom marketers erased increases from retailers and auto dealers. National Newspapers suffered spending reductions across key advertising categories as its total expenditures tumbled 10.7 percent during the quarter.
Spending among the ten largest advertisers in the second quarter of 2012 was $3,578.0 million, a 5.5 percent decrease compared to a year ago. Among the Top 100 marketers, a diversified group accounting for more than two-fifths of all measured ad expenditures, budgets rose 1.1 percent. Lower spending from the top ten group was most pronounced for a trio of advertisers (AT&T, General Motors, Procter & Gamble) that had expensive TV sponsorship positions in the Summer Olympics. Some of their second quarter reductions represent a deferral of spending into July and August to support Olympic marketing programs. Because of this timing phenomenon, the Top Ten advertisers are a less reliable benchmark when analyzing the Q2 ad marketplace.
Procter & Gamble was the top-ranked advertiser in the period, with measured spending of $577.3 million, down 13.2 percent. It was the sixth consecutive quarterly decline for P&G and is consistent with company announcements that it plans to tighten marketing budgets and shift more money out of traditional media.
The largest percentage drop among the top ten marketers came from General Motors which slashed its expenditures 30.1 percent, to $291.9million. GM‘s annual rate of measured ad spending is now at its lowest level in over a decade. By contrast, Toyota Motor spent $285.0 million in the second quarter, an increase of 22.7 percent compared to the year ago period when operations were severely curtailed by the Japanese earthquake and tsunami.
Ad expenditures for the two largest telecom marketers continued to move downward. AT&T expenditures fell 21.0 per cent, to $375.5 million and Verizon cut its media budgets by 14.7 per cent, to $326.9 million.
Unilever entered the top ten rankings by spending $278.3 million, a 48.6 per cent jump. The company raised marketing support broadly across its brand portfolio. Media expenditures at Comcast increased 12.8 percent and reached $469.7 million on higher budgets from its movie studio division. L‘Oreal investments rose 9.0 percent to $377.8 million as the company continued to aggressively support its core cosmetics and hair care brands.
Expenditures for the ten largest categories grew 1.3 per cent in the second quarter of 2012 to $21,248.1 million. Retail was the top category with expenditures of $3,837.4 million in the period, up just 0.9 per cent versus a year ago and a sharp slowdown from 8.6 per cent growth in the first quarter of 2012. Higher spending by department store brands was offset by declines from home improvement and home furnishing stores.
Automotive was the second largest category by dollar volume, with media spending of $3,373.5 million – a 7.7 per cent increase. Dealer ad budgets rose 16.8 percent while manufacturers spent 2.2 per cent more. Category growth was primarily attributable to Toyota and Honda, which could easily demonstrate growth compared to 2011, when their production and marketing activities were at a fraction of normal levels due to the earthquake and tsunami. Apart from Toyota and Honda, aggregate spending by the rest of the auto industry was flat in Q2. Second quarter expenditures for Personal Care Products increased 3.8 percent to $1,897.3 million, paced by competition among leading marketers of cosmetics, hair care and skin care products. Media investments within the Restaurant category were up 2.1 percent to $1,525.7 million, aided by major repositioning campaigns from Burger King and Wendy‘s.
Telecom ad expenditures were down by 2.4 per cent to $1,990.9 million. Category performance remains divided, with advertising budgets from wireless service providers wilting under the weight of slowing subscriber growth and rising capital investments for upgrading networks while TV service providers continue to raise their media budgets.
Ad spending in the Financial Services category turned sluggish during the second quarter, falling by 3.4 per cent to $1.9 billion on reductions from credit card issuers and ongoing weakness within the Consumer Banking segment.
After an extended run-up that began during the 2009 recession, expenditures for Food & Candy are now steadily falling back. Q2 continued the pattern as spending dropped 5.5 percent to $1,538.9 million.
MAM
The Best AEO Agencies in the USA for 2026
We ranked the 10 best AEO agencies in the USA for B2B brands in 2026 based on our selected criteria like AI visibility and clients results.
10 Best Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) Agencies in the USA for 2026
AI is changing how buyers discover vendors. Nearly half of US B2B buyers now use platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity before visiting a single website. If your brand isn’t showing up in those answers, you’re invisible before the conversation starts. This list covers the 10 best AEO agencies in the USA for 2026, ranked independently with no paid placements.
How We Evaluated the Best AEO Agencies in This List
Here is the list of criteria we looked at while evaluating the top AEO agencies in the list
- AI Visibility: How consistently the agency’s clients appear in AI-generated answers across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews.
- Client Results: Documented pipeline and revenue outcomes from verified case studies and published client testimonials.
- Technical Depth: The strength of each agency’s AEO methodology, including schema implementation, entity optimization, and LLM content structuring.
- Independent Reviews: Cross-referenced against third-party agency roundups including Discovered Labs and Minuttia’s 2026 rankings.
The 10 Best AEO Agencies in the USA for 2026
1. WebFX
WebFX is a full-service US digital marketing agency with nearly 30 years of history and over 500 employees. Their proprietary MarketingCloudFX technology powers reporting and analytics across AEO, SEO, paid advertising, and web design, making them the most process-stable and enterprise-ready agency on this list for large-scale US brands.
Expertise:
- Answer Engine Optimization
- Search Engine Optimization
- Paid Advertising
- Analytics & Reporting
2. PipeRocket Digital
PipeRocket Digital is a US-focusedB2B SaaS and tech agency that runs AEO, GEO, and SEO as one connected pipeline system. Every program is measured against demos, pipeline, and MRR and not traffic or impressions. They are the only full-spectrum agency on this list serving clients from pre-revenue startups through to enterprise scale.
Expertise:
- AEO & GEO Strategy
- Full-Funnel B2B Content
- Technical SEO
- Pipeline & MRR Attribution
3. First Page Sage
First Page Sage coined the term Generative Engine Optimization in 2024 and remains the most credentialed US agency in the space. Their authority content architecture builds deep thought leadership content engineered to earn citations in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews, tracked back to qualified leads and pipeline and not vanity traffic metrics.
Expertise:
- GEO & AEO Content Strategy
- Thought Leadership SEO
- AI Visibility Reporting
- Lead Generation
4. Single Grain
Single Grain, led by CEO Eric Siu, positions itself as a Search Everywhere Optimization agency, a framing built directly for multi-platform AI visibility. Their stack combines dedicated AEO, LLMO, paid advertising, CRO, and content marketing, making them one of the few US agencies where AEO is fully integrated into a performance marketing program.
Expertise:
- AEO & LLMO
- Paid Search & Social
- Content Marketing
- Conversion Rate Optimization
5. Omniscient Digital
Omniscient Digital is an Austin-based B2B SaaS-exclusive agency founded by alumni from HubSpot, Shopify, and Workato. Their proprietary Surround Sound SEO methodology builds content ecosystems that establish brand presence across every top resource in a given category. This is the exact citation pattern that trains LLMs to associate a brand with specific buyer problems.
Expertise:
- GEO Strategy
- Editorial Content & AEO
- Surround Sound SEO
- Link Building & Digital PR
6. RevenueZen
RevenueZen is a Portland-based full-funnel organic growth agency combining GEO content, SEO, and landing page optimization under one retainer. They stand out for publishing their pricing openly, a level of transparency rare in the US AEO market, and offering month-to-month contracts with no long-term commitment required for B2B teams.
Expertise:
- GEO & AEO Content
- Full-Funnel SEO
- Landing Page Optimization
- Pipeline Attribution
7. Siege Media
Siege Media is a San Diego-based content-driven agency that has evolved from linkable assets and manual outreach into a full organic growth agency offering AEO and LLMO. Their core view is that AI models determine trust through web-wide consensus, so they engineer content to earn citations from .edu, .gov, and authoritative publisher domains that LLMs weight most heavily.
Expertise:
- Content-Led SEO & AEO
- LLMO
- Link Building & Digital PR
- Content Design
8. NoGood
NoGood is the most cross-referenced US agency in both Minuttia and Discovered Labs’ 2026 AEO roundups. For each client they form a tailored growth squad from their team of 70+ experts, delivering AEO, SEO, paid, and CRO in one data-driven system with real-time AI citation monitoring across ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity.
Expertise:
- AEO Strategy
- AI Citation Monitoring
- Paid Search & Social
- Analytics & Reporting
9. KlientBoost
KlientBoost addresses the conversion gap that AEO alone creates: AI visibility drives attention but only generates pipeline if the landing experience converts it. They combine PPC management, landing page optimization, and CRO in a unified system, and have one of the highest volumes of publicly listed client reviews of any US digital agency.
Expertise:
- PPC Management
- Landing Page Optimization
- Conversion Rate Optimization
- AEO Content
10. SimpleTiger
SimpleTiger has focused exclusively on SaaS since 2006, giving them the longest SaaS-only track record on this list. The CEO and COO consult directly with every client, making this a genuinely high-touch engagement at accessible pricing — rare for a specialized US agency. Their most notable result: a 597% increase in JotForm’s organic traffic in two months.
Expertise:
- SaaS SEO & AEO
- Keyword Research
- On-Page SEO
- Technical SEO
Conclusion
Finding the right AEO agency in 2026 comes down to where you are in your growth journey and what you need AI search to do for your pipeline. Whether you’re a pre-revenue founder or an enterprise scaling across multiple markets, the agencies on this list represent the strongest options available in the US today. Start by auditing your current AI visibility, then match your needs to the agency built for your stage.
FAQs
1. What is an AEO agency?
An AEO agency (Answer Engine Optimization agency) is a specialized digital marketing firm that helps brands structure their content and online presence so AI platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews can surface them as a direct answer to user queries.
Unlike traditional SEO agencies focused on search engine rankings, AEO agencies optimize for retrieval by large language models, using semantic clarity, structured formatting, entity signals, and conversational content architecture to ensure a brand appears in AI-generated responses.
2. What is the difference between AEO and SEO?
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) focuses on getting your web pages to rank highly on Google and other search engines so users click through to your site. AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) goes a step further by structuring that same content so AI platforms can extract and cite it directly in AI-generated answers, without the user needing to click at all.
In practice, AEO and SEO are complementary rather than competing disciplines. AI platforms primarily cite pages that already rank well on Google, which means strong SEO forms the foundation that AEO builds on. Cutting one weakens the other.
3. What are the best AEO agencies in 2026?
Based on AI visibility performance, verified client results, and independent third-party rankings, the strongest AEO agencies in the USA for 2026 include WebFX for enterprise brands needing a proven full-service vendor, PipeRocket Digital for B2B SaaS and tech companies at any growth stage, First Page Sage for thought leadership-driven GEO, Single Grain for integrated multi-channel AI search growth, and Omniscient Digital for editorial-first category authority.
Other notable agencies on this list include RevenueZen, Siege Media, NoGood, KlientBoost, and SimpleTiger, each suited to different budget levels, ARR stages, and growth priorities.
